Printing-type.



No. 821,076. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906. C. B. ASKEW. PRINTING TYPE.

APPLICATION FILED sBPT.2 2, 1905.

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. artistically correct.v

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CHARLES B. ASKEW, 0F CHICAGO, lllLlLllNCllS.

Painrunearvee.

no; salme.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

@atented May 22, 1906.

Application filed September 22. 1905. 'Serial No. 280,057.

ToaZZ who-m it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES B. AsKEw, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in tthe county of Cook and State of Illino1s, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Types, of which' the following is a specification.

As commonly constructed, printing-type bodies present in end view straight/parallel side edges separated a distance slightly greater than the maximum width of the character' constituting the type-face virrespective of whetherthe character' is vertically balanced or vertically unbalanced. By a vertically-balanced character l mean one the top and base or vertical extremities of which are substantially equal in' width, (e. g., the letter B,") while by a verticallyunbalanced character .l mean one the width of the top of which is greater than the width of its base, (e. g., the letter, T,`) or vice versa, (e. g., the letter A.). lt follows, therefore, that when what l will term a widetop, letter, such as said letter "l, appears in print in immediate proximity to a wide base7 letter, such as the letter en the faces of the types and said letters when printed are separated both at the top and the base by a distance much greater than that separating the nearest or approximate points of the characters borne by any other combination of vertically balanced or unbalanced types.l

Such undue separation of the nearest points of adjacent letters which are respectively wide-topped and wide-based produces very inartistic results and is found very annoying in many forms of printing, as the bolder the display the more pronounced the split or separated effect becomes.

My invention has for its object to provide 'types .which will overcome the difficulty above mentioned and insure that the grouping of vertically-unbalanced letters shall be To this end my invention consists in reducing the width of the type-body in the vertical area corresponding with the reduced portion of the vertically-unbalanced character and in so shaping the vertically-unbalanced types thatwideftop types and widebase types are adapted to operatively interfit to bring theirl faces into sufficiently close llt will be nn-v Y '.derstood that vertically-balanced types are not. changed in construction under my in-` vention.

My invention also consists in the features of construction and arrangement hereinafter lmore fully described and which are made the subject of claims.

lin the drawings, Figure l is an isometric perspective of two types having verticallyunbalanced facesconstructed in accordance with my invention. lFig. 2 is a face view of a type impression taken from type made in accordance with my invention, showing in dotted lines theoutline of the type-body from which the impression is taken; and Fig. 3 is a similar view of a similar impression taken from types as ordinarily constructed and showing in dotted lines the outlines of such ordinary-type-bodies.

Throughout the drawings like numerals of reference refer always to like parts'. ln the drawings, 5 5 indicate the bodies of the type, 6 6 their face ends, and 7 7 their faces or the raised portions thereof representing the characters to be printed by the t e. i f

ypThe style of 'type which l have shown lin Fig. l is adapted for vertical rinting, and consequently in vertically-ba anced type, (which are not changed in construction under the teachings of my invention,)` the side edges of the type are at right angles to the top and bottom edges; but it will be apparent that the teachings of ymy invention are applicable as well to types bearing italics, script, or other slanting characters, the side edges of which typel are at corresponding angles to the type-bases.

lin accordance with my invention eachof the vertically-unbalanced types has a portion ofits body cut away longitudinallyof the type, so that at the end of the type a recess 8 appears in the portion of the type left voacant by the narrower portion of the typeface, said recess being vertically limited by the part 9, which for convenience ll will term a projectiom though it isv only apart ofthe normal width of the type. The recesses IOO 8 at the. bases of those type which are widel 'dinary composition, except that they secure shoulder 110, forming the vertical boundary of l the recess, is parallel to the top and bottom edges of the type and is located midway between said edges, while the side surface of the recess is arallel to the -side edge of the type end. T e recesses in all of the types are preferably of Aequal width, and it follows, therefore, that when a series of type constructed in accordance with my invention are assembled, as best indicated in Fig. 2, where vertically-unbalanced type, such as the letters L and Y are arranged side by side, the projecting portion 9 of one unbalanced type interts into the recess 8 of the adjacent oppositely-unbalanced type, so that the faces of the type are brought into proper proximity to secure an artistic eifect in the printing. It is further to be noted that the cutting away of the types to form the recesses 8 in no way affects their general utility, as suflicient of the normal side surface of the type is always left to enable it to be used like any ordinary .type in association with balanced types presenting their normal side faces-as, for example, where the letters T and E are arranged in proximity in Fig. 2-or with an unbalanced type having a rojection facing that of the first-mentione type-as, for exam le, where letters L and A are side by si e in Fig. 2. It follows, therefore, that types constructed in accordance withv my invention may be used wherever ordinary types may be used and in no way change orthe proper relative positioning of oppositelyunbalanced faces or characters.

It will be apparent that numerous slight changes in the exact construction ofthe type might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. Printing-type adapted to be set side by side in line yand bearing vertically-unbalanced faces, each of said vertically-unbalanced type having its body diminished in width at the portion corresponding to the narrow portion of the type-face, and of suitable vertical extent to receive the undiminished p'ortion of an oppositely-unbalanced type, whereby the type-faces, oppositely v11nbalanced, may be brought into artistic proximity when said type are placed side by side.

2. Vertically unbalanced printing type, each having a recess made in the side face of its body, corresponding in vertical position with the narrower portion of the unbalanced type-face, and of vertical extent equal to or greater than the undiminished portion of an oppositely-unbalanced type.

3. .V ertically-unbalanced type having recesses formed therein extending into the side of each type-body along the edge thereof corresponding with the minimum width of the type-face, types being adapted to interfit with. the undiminished portions of the wide-base types.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

- CHARLES B, ASKEW. In presence of GEO; T. MAY,-Jr., MARY F. ALLEN.

the. recesses 1n the wide-top, 

